


Launch Bay Rejects

by Pinky G Rocket (pinkygrocket)



Category: Hotline Miami (Video Games), Psychonauts (Video Games), The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Body Horror, Bugs & Insects, Cats, Comedy, Crossover, Dark Fantasy, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Dreams and Nightmares, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Gen, Gore, Hallucinations, Horror, Nightmares, Smoking, Spiders, Squick, unreality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:01:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29222877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkygrocket/pseuds/Pinky%20G%20Rocket
Summary: Various abandoned drafts, drabbles, etc. that are too short or incomplete to dedicate to their own spaces. Individual CWs are noted at the beginning of each chapter/work.
Relationships: Chloe Barge/Bobby Zilch, Razputin Aquato/Lili Zanotto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. 2018-09-30 - hotline miami / TCM - prelude to the end

**Author's Note:**

> Works are sorted by the date that they were last worked on, as YYYY-MM-DD. Sorted by oldest to newest. Fandoms are also included in the chapter names if you are uninterested in a certain fandom and would like to skip around.
> 
> All works are posted with minimal changes, mostly to accommodate for AO3 formatting. As thus, they may not be indicative of the kind of work I produce today. This includes skill level, character interpretation, personal values, etc. They may be typos, spelling errors, awkward starts and stops, OOC characters, etc. Regardless, I still feel that it is important to preserve these works.
> 
> It's a wild ride digging through Discord servers, old DMs, Google Docs, messy folders, etc. to find all these. Have fun exploring this beautiful mess, and feel free to use or build upon any ideas you find here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CW: Smoking, hallucinations/unreality**
> 
> At one point, I had come up with concepts and a storyline for a Hotline Miami / Texas Chainsaw Massacre crossover comic book, known as PROJECT PSYCHO OUTRUN. I would have been writing. The project ended up going nowhere and eventually fizzled out. However, the script for the prologue/preview comic remains.

# ONE

**Panel 1:** HIGH ANGLE: MARCUS; an older, worn man (think Brad Pitt from _Se7vn_ ), investigative journalist, is sitting alone in a motel room late at night. He works by the light of a desk lamp. Papers and other documents are scattered across the table, along with a camera.

Camera ref: <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/NikonFAblkfrt35f2.jpg>

  1. NARRATION: Austin, 1986.



**Panel 2:** CLOSEUP: Marcus is writing notes inside a journal.

NO COPY

**Panel 3:** PULL OUT: An unknown voice calls out to Marcus, interrupting his work.

  1. UNKNOWN VOICE (OFF): Another late night, Marcus?



**Panel 4:** Marcus stops, sighs & places his left fingertips on his temples, irritated at the interruption.

  1. MARCUS: I’ve been doing this long before I came here.



**Panel 5:** Marcus begins to get up from the desk chair and turns around.

  1. MARCUS: In fact, I-



**Panel 6:** Marcus stops in place, visibly confused.

NO COPY

**Panel 7:** CUTAWAY, MEDIUM: A tall man wearing a coyote mask and a cowboy outfit is standing in the middle of the room. The mask obscures his face, with shadows hiding where his eyes should be.

  1. MARCUS (OFF): What-


  1. MARCUS (OFF) : Who the hell are you?



# TWO

**Panel 1:** The masked man stands in place, staring at Marcus. Marcus is suspicious of the sudden guest.

  1. MARCUS: Are you with those goddamn creeps?



**Panel 2:** The masked man shrugs at the question-

**Panel 3:** -and walks over to the table.

  1. MASKED MAN: No.


  1. MASKED MAN: But who I am is not important.



**Panel 4:** CLOSEUP: Newspaper articles on disappearances and gang activity in the Austin area, and Marcus’s own notes on his investigation litter the table. On top of the mess is a vague pencil scribble of Leatherface and Drayton, drawn from memory.

  1. MASKED MAN (OFF): What is important


  1. MASKED MAN (OFF): is what you've gotten yourself into.



**Panel 5:** Marcus groans, tired and confused.

  1. MARCUS: Ugh...



**Panel 6:** The masked man and Marcus walk out onto the balcony of the motel room.

NO COPY

# THREE

**Panel 1:** Marcus and the masked man are standing on the balcony of Marcus’s motel room. Ahead of them, the glow of Austin’s lights pierces through the night. Not many stars are in the sky - either an overcast night or from light pollution. Marcus pulls out a matchbook and a box of cigarettes from the pocket of his pants.

NO COPY

**Panel 2:** CLOSEUP: He strikes a match-

  1. SFX: fwip!



**Panel 3:** -lights the cigarette-

NO COPY

**Panel 4** : PULL OUT: -and puts it to his lips.

  1. MARCUS: I don’t know who the hell you think you are.



**Panel 5:** Marcus pulls the cigarette away from his lips and exhales, and the smoke dissipates into the air.

  1. SFX: pssshhh…



**Panel 6:** MEDIUM, TWO SHOT: Marcus leans on the balcony and turns in place to better face the masked man.

  1. MARCUS: But I ain't playing hero.


  1. MARCUS: I watch, record and sell what’s there.



**Panel 7:** Marcus’s face becomes more intense, underlining his point.

  1. MARCUS: I’m not involved.



# FOUR

**Panel 1:** The masked man turns his head to look back at Marcus.

  1. MASKED MAN: Not involved?


  1. MASKED MAN: People have died for much less.



**Panel 2:** His head tilts to one side as he continues to talk.

  1. MASKED MAN: You know how the saying goes…


  1. MASKED MAN: “Curiosity killed the cat.”



**Panel 3:** Marcus becomes annoyed at his response.

  1. MARCUS: So what’s your deal then, fox-man?



**Panel 4:** The masked man stares back at Marcus, his mask expressionless.

NO COPY

**Panel 5:** Marcus prodes again, trying to get some sort of response.

  1. MARCUS: Hm?


  1. MARCUS: The fuck you trying to say?



# FIVE

**Panel 1:** Marcus turns away to stare back into the night lights, irritated by the lack of response.

NO COPY

**Panel 2:** The masked man leaves him with a cryptic warning.

  1. MASKED MAN (OFF): I’m saying you should think of yourself as a unlucky bastard.



**Panel 3:** Marcus turns to reply to the masked man…

NO COPY

**Panel 4:** CUTAWAY: …and the masked man has vanished without a trace.

NO COPY

**Panel 5:** PULL OUT: Marcus is now alone on the balcony.

NO COPY

# SIX

**Panel 1:** CLOSEUP: Marcus looks surprised at the masked man’s sudden disappearance.

NO COPY

**Panel 2:** He closes his eyes and grimaces, wondering if that just really happened-

NO COPY

**Panel 3:** -opens his eyes, and glances back at the view.

  1. MARCUS: Sigh…



**Panel 4:** MEDIUM: Marcus gazes at Austin from the balcony.

NO COPY

**Panel 5:** LARGE PANEL, WIDE: He walks back inside, and flicks the cigarette off the balcony. The art / building fades into video static, with the exception of the cigarette as it falls into the colorful void.

NO COPY

# SEVEN

**FULL PAGE:** The logo for QUIXOTIC ENTERTAINMENT is displayed on a CRT screen.

NO COPY


	2. 2020-06-17 - psychonauts - lights, camera, action!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A silly "behind the scenes" drabble, based off of the Mario Power Tennis intro cutscene bloopers.

Despite the sun coming up at six o-clock in the morning this time of day, Loboto and Milla are still have sleep lingering in the corner of their eyes. They are sitting in the cast chairs while the crew scrambles around them, putting together the next scene. Loboto’s eyes follow the workers rushing to and fro. Milla’s half-closed eyes watch the floor, wondering when that coffee is going to kick in. A loud sigh escapes from Loboto, causing Milla to lift her head.

“Caligosto, darling?”

“Just… look at him!”

Loboto motions his head to the doorway of one of the trailers. Milla turns his head to see what has Loboto so miffed. Posted above the trailer door is a white sign. Printed in large, bold black letters: NO DRINKING, NO EATING, NO SMOKING ON SET. Sasha is beneath the sign, leaning on the frame of the doorway. In one hand, he is sipping a fresh cup of coffee. In the other hand is a croissant. Finally, his morning cigarette is floating by his head, his hands occupied with breakfast. Sasha turns his head slightly to focus his attention on the pair looking at him. He raises an eyebrow, and takes a sip from his coffee.

* * *

None of the children saw Loboto before their scene with him. They ate separately, did makeup in separate rooms, and waited in separate areas. Tim even specified to the script editors to redact most information about Loboto in the children’s copies of the scripts. The only kid that did know Loboto’s appearance and role was his son Bobby. During lunchtime, before their scenes with Loboto, the children would speculate who Loboto was. Bobby was more than happy to feed them misinformation and red herrings. A mean old witch! A monster from the woods! An alien from another world! As the day when they would get to film their scenes with him approached, their voices grew louder and louder. Several times, Milla had to tell the children to calm down. Sasha could feel the oncoming headaches during lunctime, while Loboto snickered to himself.

Finally, the first day came. The children were all together in the waiting room except Razputin; he was always on set. A crew member walked into the room, clipboard in hand. “Lili, Dogen, on set.” Lili scrambled to the crew member, excited, while Dogen dragged his feet a little bit. 

“Relax, Dogen.” Dogen turned from the doorway to face Bobby. “I wouldn’t worry.” Dogen could see a smile flickering on Bobby’s face, and Bobby offered him a quick wink. Dogen racked his brain to find something to say to Bobby, but couldn’t muster anything up. The crew member closed the door behind them, and they began to walk towards the set. “Don’t pay attention to him,” Lili remarked.

* * *

Dogen screamed at the top of his lungs. Milla, who had fallen asleep in her chair, was wide awake in a fraction of a second. Crew members jumped in their seats. The scream reached the waiting room, and all the children swung their heads in the direction of the scream. The cameraman glanced at Tim; Tim waved at him to keep rolling. Once cut! rang out on set, there was a brief conversation.

“Are we keeping it?”

“We’re keeping it!”

In the waiting room, the crew member with the clipboard came back in again. They looked over the pairs of eyes all staring at them.

“Who’s next?”


	3. 2020-07-05 - psychonauts - gas station

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be the start of a oneshot focused around two OC agents, Marcus and Ken. The gist is that they would have been involved in a sting on a villain hiding out, and the sting goes wrong.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, man?"

Marcus looked over from the driver's seat. Sitting next to him was Ken, his partner for the evening. They were munching on hot dogs from the gas station their truck was parked next to. Ken took another bite from his hot dog, not bothering to look at Marcus. The food dripped with grease, but it was a price to pay for only two dollars and peace of mind. This was thier checkpoint before the mission, but Ken was shifting in his seat well before they arrived here. Marcus figured some food would help take Ken's mind off things. At the very least, he would calm down a bit with a full stomach. Ken swallowed his last bite, and sighed.

"Look around you!"

"What are you getting at?"

"It's pitch black, we're not going to be able to call for backup, and we're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Ken, you've done missions like this before without calling for backup. And you got me."

Ken chuckled.

"Thanks Marcus. But..."

"But what?"

Ken paused. He looked outside, past the parking lot of the gas station to the lonely forest road that winded through the trees. Only one other vehicle had drove past them down the road in the last hour, and it drove by quickly.

"Something feels wrong. Really wrong."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you."

"Let's just get this over with."

Marcus wrapped the rest of his hot dog up in the paper tray it came in, and tossed it into the trash bag of the truck. He wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.


	4. 2020-07-30 - psychonauts - tapes from space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally was going to be a framing device for a compilation that never got off the ground.
> 
> The tape names are all taken from various Machine Girl songs.

When Coach Oleander started volunteering at Whispering Rock Summer Camp, he reopened many of the old trails. He offered words of encouragement to the campers, which fell on deaf ears. Moss and vines had crept onto the trails, making the thin paths smaller year after year. Around the campfire, the children would exchange stories of lake monsters, ghosts, and monsters encountered deep on the trails. A few might go up to the trailhead sign and dare each other to go down the beaten path, but no one ever took a step onto the trail. Well, that is, until Bobby and Chloe.

Chloe was looking through her telescope up into the night sky. Compared to where her human host family lived, out here, she could see all the stars in the sky and more. Perhaps if she looked hard enough and adjusted her telescope right, she would be able to see home. As she gazed, another star emerged from the sky in her lens. It grew larger, and soon lost it's place among the crowd. The star fell from the sky and disappeared behind the trees, leaving behind a short-lived streak. Moments later, there was a loud boom. Below Chloe's perch, a clamor rose from below.

"Meteor!!"

Chloe packed up her telescope. She climbed down the ladder as fast as her little legs would let her. Among her peers scattered about was Bobby. She scurried up behind him with a spring in her step, and gave him a tip-tap on the shoulder.

"Who cares about a stupid- Chloe?" He jumped a bit, and turned around.

"We're going to the meteorite site!"

"Wait!" Elton piped up. "I-Isn't that down the old trail?"

"Yes." Chloe spoke up before Bobby could help himself. Even if he could, any response he was cooking up had disappeared like a bubble.

"Are you coming with us?" Chloe asked Elton.

"No!!," he replied.

All Chloe offered in response to Elton was a momentary blink. She took Bobby's hand, and the pair took off for the trailhead.

After a while of trudging through the dark with only a flashlight to guide them, Chloe and Bobby came across the crash site. There was a large crater in the soil, filled with torn branches and leaves. In the center of the crater was the meteorite; a white lump the size of a soccer ball. Chloe stepped over the rim into the crater, with Bobby following close behind.

"It's not a meteorite."

"What do you mean, it's not a meteorite?"

"It's a package." They approached the object. There were a system of lines and circles carved into the smooth white surface. Chloe began to feel across it's surface with her fingers. "Sometimes, my friends send me small gifts." She followed the lines, until she found what she was looking for; a latch. She gave it a gentle tap, and the package responded with a high-pitched ding! The two stepped back, the package glowed, and it unfolded like a lotus to reveal...

"Tapes?"

Inside the package was a collection of worn black VHS tapes. Scrawled on each label in Sharpie were titles which Bobby could sworn he'd seen on the back of his CDs. Highlights included 'Necro Culture Vulture'; 'Nwofka Skullboy'; 'Psycho Signal Jammer'. Atop the collection was a small gold disc, with a series of arcane symbols etched in a sprial. Bobby had never seen symbols like those in his life, but Chloe began to read off the message without missing a beat.


	5. 2020-08-01 - psychonauts - it gave birth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL9pQDQN7_4
> 
> **CW: Bugs / spiders**

The sun had long since vanished beneath the trees, with only a weak, hazy glow left in the sky. Walking towards the boy's cabin in the cool night air was Bobby. His hair even more out of control from the day's events, and his eyelids were heavy. However, in the corner of his eye, he saw something scurrying. He stopped and turned towards the tree where he saw the movement.

On the trunk was a spider. Its body was half the size of his thumb, and it rested on the wood with long, spindly legs. Bobby looked to his left, to his right. Nobody was close by, or looking towards Bobby. He gave a grin to himself. Milla had assured the children on the first day that there were no poisonous spiders around camp, but that didn't mean that there were no spiders.

He cupped his right hand. With a finger from his left hand, he nudged the spider into his palm. The spider jolted and scurried in place at his poking, but didn't try to run back to the tree. Bobby hid it with his other hand, and then returned to heading towards the cabin.

When he poked his head through the door, a few of the more light sleepers greeted his presence with annoyed grunts and the shuffle of blankets. Bobby tiptoed through the darkness to his bunk. Before he climbed up the ladder though, there was one more thing to do. He lowered his hands, opened them up, and let the spider escape onto his bunkmate's bed. He headed up the ladder, buried himself under the blankets, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

The lucky winner to wake up the entire boy's cabin was Elton. By a stroke of luck, he was spared from having eight little limbs crawl across his skin. Instead, when he woke up to get a drink of water, the light of his flashlight revealed the spider resting on the ceiling. He let out a petrified screech, and dropped his flashlight. The other boys responded to his terror in turn with confused yelling.

"What the-"

"What's happening?"

"It's the lake monster!"

"What is it??"

"Please don't kill us!!"

Metallic clicks rang out. The shadows in the cabin turned into day with the orange-yellow light of flashlights. Like spotlights on a theater stage, they all swooped to illuminate the spider. The cacophony of confusion fell silent, as wide eyes stared at the spider, waiting for it to do something, anything. The spider stared back, and then ran a bit. Maloof jumped in his bed - he would have stood up if not for the risk of banging his head.

"That's it! Get out of my house!," Maloof cried.

Mikhal met his words by punching at the ceiling, trying to crush the spider below a translucent palm. The spider sprinted across the ceiling, dodging Mikhal's attacks as it danced.

A few of the campers screamed in terror. Raz joined the noise, with an irritated half-scream, half-groan. He held his head in his hands, the rude awakening and the noise beginning to make his head sway. On Raz's travels with his family, he had seen all sorts of bugs while sleeping - ones much bigger than this spider.

"No, hit it. Like, actually hit it," Raz said.

JT placed two fingers on his right temple, and stared down the spider. A bolt of light burst from his head, and hit the spider point-blank. A slight burn mark was scorched into the ceiling, but the spider still twitched and writhed about in a vain attempt to flee.

"It's not dead," Nils said.

Dogen held his head in his hands, and shrieked. Suddenly, the spider burst like a bubble. Hundreds of little red beads showered from the ceiling onto the floor, blankets, and into hair. Everyone screamed in sync.

"It gave birth!" Benny screamed.

The other campers joined in;

"It gave birth!!"

"Those are eggs!"

"Oh my God, it gave birth!!"


	6. 2020-08-01 - psychonauts / wind waker - the quiet new kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rocket on 07/21/2020  
> raz :handshake: toon link  
> going through hell and saving the world with nothing but ten year old willpower

A few of the campers eyed their new cabinmate with curiosity, or hostility, as they curled up under the covers for the night.

The new boy had unceremoniously fallen out of the trees while the campers were gathered around the campfire. When the camp counselors levitated him out of the bushes, he screamed and struggled like a bug, but didn't say a word. A few of the campers and Oleander tried to grill answers out of him. The boy answered their questions with silence, narrowing his wide eyes, and a grunt. His outfit consisted of long sleeves, a tunic, long pants, and a cloth hat. He would be sweating bullets this time of year. After campfire, the boy's idea of some fun before bedtime was taking a small sword and chopping up random undergrowth. Currently, the strange boy was passed out in his bunk, his face hidden under a fluffy mess of blonde hair.

Away from the cabins, in the camp lounge, Milla was chattering on the phone. "...yes, of course. Thank you." She hung up the phone, and turned to Sasha, who was having a late-night smoke.

"Did you get any information on the boy, Vodello?"

"I talked to his grandmother. She says his little sister disappeared a few days ago around here."

"Do you know what she might be talking about?"

"No."

"Strange. Did you get the boy's name?"

"His name is Link."


	7. 2020-09-06 - psychonauts - infinite tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CW: Spiders, bugs, gore**
> 
> My first really big project, started in August 2020. Part 1 is mostly complete, Part 2 is an eternal WIP, and I struggled with how to continue in Part 3.
> 
> Conceptually, it is based around the idea of the Brain Tumbler forming mental worlds based off of "junk data" from a background field of psychic energy, akin to how old games can form "minus worlds" or glitch levels.

#  **_Part 1_ **

The dulled pitter-patter of rain from outside echoed through the underground laboratory. Sasha was pressing buttons and typing instructions into a dark, round computer screen. He was situated at his levitation desk, preparing the Brain Tumbler. While Raz waited, he stood up from his spot on the stairs onto his tiptoes. He squinted to peer at the giant mishmash of metal, wires, and lights hanging from the ceiling that was the Brain Tumbler. Even though he was here in Sasha’s lab two days ago, Raz didn’t take a good look at the machine. First, he had to get all his training done before his dad arrived to take him home. Then, he had to save his girlfriend, teachers, friends and the rest of the world from the conquest of a tiny army man and a dentist / brain surgeon / lunatic. Now though, Raz had a little bit of time. 

The Brain Tumbler hissed and whirred at each of Sasha’s commands. Different parts spun this way, that way, and Raz couldn’t predict which way they’d turn next. Sometimes, it interrupted itself with a thundering _cachunk, cachunk, cachunk!_ Raz had only heard about machines like these in the books that he had read under the covers with a flashlight, after the rest of his family had gone to sleep. He would pour over the detailed illustrations and diagrams, unable to take his eyes away. The only thing that pulled him away was passing out with the book still open and the flashlight still on. But now that he was sitting in front of one of those machines in silence, trying to look directly at it was trying to stare into the sun. If it wasn’t for his pilot’s cap covering his ears and the light muffle they provided, Raz would have cupped his hands over his ears a long time ago. It felt like an eternity before the spinning stopped.

“Step up to the Brain Tumbler when you are ready to begin, Razputin.”

Sasha turned from his desk to face Raz. Raz hopped off his place on the stairs, and began to approach the machine. Compared to two days ago, there was a little less spring in his step, replaced by a bit of shaking. Raz turned towards Sasha and smiled, trying to, at the very least, keep his smile steady. Raz’s smile was met with silence from Sasha, not as much as a raised eyebrow. Despite the lack of response, Sasha’s demeanor hushed a stray thought lingering in the back of Raz’s mind. As he reached the machine, Raz allowed himself a deep breath. He leaned his head back against the glowing apparatus, slid down his goggles, and let his shoulders go slack.

_Focus. I’ve done this before._

Sasha turned back to his desk, and typed a series of commands into the screen. A series of beeps echoed around Raz, and then a mechanical whirr began. It grew louder, and the machine began to rumble faster and faster. Raz felt the world around him beginning to spin back and forth… back and forth… back and forth… 

The world stopped spinning. Raz took a few moments; he didn’t want to run into the unknown on unsteady legs. As he regained his footing, he found himself back in the same place he had visited two days before. Surrounding him was a forest covered in thorns, blanketed in long shadows, lit only by the soft glow of wildflowers. He looked around this way, that way. The vines weaving through the trees around him had become longer and thicker, twisting around the trunks as they reached towards a starless sky. The path in front of him had become thinner as vines creeped onto it, beginning to reclaim it into the forest. The shadows had become longer and darker. The smell of rain floated through the branches, and a cold breeze shuffled the leaves about. For a brief moment, Raz wondered if mental worlds could have weather. He began to make his way forward on the path, keeping up a brisk pace while also taking care not to trip on the newfound growth. Sure, if he tripped, the thorns wouldn’t leave any wounds when he came out of the astral projection. But Raz’s nerves didn’t care if the sharp barbs tearing and biting into his skin were real or not.

Soon, the trees began to part into a clearing. The tower was still there, standing tall over Raz. This time though, there was no top with a flickering light for Raz to look at when he tilted his head back. Instead, the tower kept winding higher, higher, higher, until it vanished into the dark sky. In his family’s travels, Raz had been to bustling cities with enormous skyscrapers; this tower made those skyscrapers look like model toys. The tower had become much bigger as well. Before, there was only the laboratory at the very top to enter. Now, despite the laboratory being gone, the tower was big enough to go inside - from a single, lone door at the base.

Raz walked up to the door, and stopped. The door was twice his height, made up of worn steel. At his feet, in the tiny crack between the door and the ground, there was a long shadow. The shadow didn’t belong to anyone, or anything, else. When Raz’s eyes flickered down to the shadow, it stirred in place. Raz jumped in his own skin. The shadow scuttled back into the tower without a sound.

“Did you see that?”

“No. What did you see?” Sasha’s voice echoed in Raz’s ears.

“I… I’m not sure what the heck that was.”

Raz paused.

“I think it was a bug of some kind. It ran off before I could do anything.”

“Interesting. Insects are often representative of negative thoughts or feelings. Did you see where it went?”

“It went into the freaky tower. But now the tower’s really, uh… tall. Like it goes up forever.”

Raz felt a knot beginning to wind up and tie at the bottom of his stomach. He pushed back his thoughts, and gripped the handle of the door in front of him. 

“I’m going in.”

“Report any observations you see to me.” 

Sasha’s steady voice stopped Raz’s nerves from trembling like a guitar string. Raz pushed on the door with as much strength he could muster; being ten years old didn’t give him strength, but it did give him enthusiasm. The door screeched open on rusty hinges to reveal a hallway. Soft light mixed with long shadows, showing paint on the walls that was peeling and chipping away, and a cracked floor with tiles missing. The door tore apart cobwebs as it opened. A low, howling sigh rumbled from somewhere deep within the structure. Raz stepped inside, looking around. When he let go of the door, it closed behind him with a groan and a half-hearted slam. Raz took a mental note of his immediate surroundings and filed it away inside the back of his mind. Out of the many places he has gotten lost in, he didn’t want this place to be one of them.

“Now… where would I hide if I was a creepy little bug?”

As Raz proceeded further down the hallway, he narrowed his eyes. He stretched out his right hand to one of the walls to guide him down the hall, and up a set of stairs. Despite the patches of soft light scattered about, it was even harder to see in here than outside, and the forest outside had no sun, moon, or stars to speak of. The floor was slightly sticky, like walking on top of a spider’s web. His footsteps sent out long, lonely echoes that bounced between the walls. Bit by bit, details began to come out of the shadows as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. But the details coming out did not allow Raz to take his hand away from the wall. He stopped.

_Maybe I could use pyrokinesis… would make it a lot easier to see in here. But what can I use?_

Raz took off his backpack. He opened it up, and with his left hand, began to paw through the contents. Smelling Salts… no, as bad as they smelled, he couldn’t lose them! _True Psychic Tales_ #57… he’s still not getting rid of it, even though he’s read it back to back twenty times and knows every page by heart. Raz let out a grunt, and began to dig harder through his backpack. Arrowheads… Lili’s friendship bracelet… couldn’t he have something small to burst into a ball of flame to light his way? As he searched, something began to crawl on his leg with six little feet. His eyes flickered down to see what was crawling across him. It was a bumblebee, complete with a fat, fuzzy black and yellow body. Goosebumps began to crawl up his skin, but Raz smiled. Lighting bugs on fire with pyrokinesis was-

“Where am I?” said the bee in a tiny voice.

The goosebumps that had begun to crawl over Raz’s skin erupted. That meek voice stumbling through shyness - it couldn’t be anyone else.

“Dogen?” Raz gasped.

“Where am I?,” the bee asked again, it’s voice becoming louder.

“Sasha?”

Sasha tried to answer Raz, but a thick layer of hissing, sputtering static covered his voice. Raz grit his teeth as the white noise burst in and out of his ears.

“R-... ...-utin, I-... an’t-”

“You can’t- what?”

The bee flew off Raz’s leg, and hurried off through the darkness into a nearby room. Raz ran after it as fast as he could. He wasn’t about to let it vanish from sight. He followed it into the room it had run into. There were turned over chairs, and few scattered broken tables; it was a waiting room. The bee flew up through the air, and onto the ceiling. Raz’s eyes followed it, but the bee became lost among the multitude of other bugs on the ceiling. There were moths, butterflies, beetles, flies, bees, and other insects that Raz had never seen before. All of their wings were fluttering and flickering, but they were going nowhere. The combined buzzing and humming formed the sound of a child sobbing. No water came, but Raz could feel the child’s tears raining down from the insects and landing on his face. A jumble of different voices came out from the crawling, squirming mass. Raz recognized every single one.

“Where am I?,” the bee screamed.

“It's dark in here!,” said a leaf bug.

“What planet are you from?,” said a butterfly.

“Funny, because see, you remind me of this one time…” said a fly.

“Let me go, you lily livered greenhorn!,” said a longhorn beetle.

Their voices began to slur and melt into one another as they spoke faster and faster. The moment Raz tried to get a word in, another bug would begin to speak. Even the other bugs couldn’t get a word in. They either cut each other off, or talked over each other. Raz’s eyes darted back and forth. First he couldn’t follow two sentences, then two words, then two letters.

“Sasha?”

“...-eed ...out- -ther-az… -in.”

“What’s out there??”

_What’s in here??_

The insect’s wings began to flap faster and faster, but they continued to thrash about. The child’s cry turned into a shrill scream that grinded against Raz’s brain. He spun his head around the room, eyeing each and every dark nook and cranny. Besides the mass of insects, the rest of the room was dark and quiet, with nothing moving in the shadows. Then, a single shiver shook the room. The cacophony of voices from the insects fell quiet. The room rumbled again, a bit stronger this time. Raz took a step backwards, towards the door. Another shiver came, this time rattling Raz and the furniture around him as well. He stared past the furniture into the darkness. A single green light cut through the shadows. Then, to the right, a red light lit up. Two… three… four pairs of massive, perfectly round, glowing eyes cut through the shadows, staring at Raz from above. He didn’t wait for the rest of the spider to emerge; he turned around and sprinted straight out the door from where he came into the room from.

“Sasha!!” Raz yelled.

The only response he received was static.

Raz’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran. The hallway around him continued to shiver and shake. He had to run harder than before; the floor had become stickier. He took a flying leap down the stairs he had come up, and continued down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, he saw the entrance to the tower. Raz scrambled to prevent himself from running face first into the door, gripped the handle with both hands, and pulled as hard as he could. The door refused to open.

“Come _on!_ ”  
  
Raz was not in the mood to play games. A floating translucent hand appeared, and Raz slammed a psychic fist against the door. The door groaned as the fist created a heavy dent in it. He continued to smash against the door, harder and harder. After a few good punches, the door broke off its hinges, and Raz tumbled into another hallway. Raz blinked rapidly, and looked around.

_This has to be a trick, right?_

The rumbling of the room that he was in cut off his thoughts. The sound of rattling objects came from the rooms around him. Raz crouched down in the corner next to the door that now laid on the ground, and whipped his backpack to his front. Not bothering to open up the front flap, he plunged his hand through it into the contents, and in the next moment, pulled out the Smelling Salts. They smelled burnt, rotting and musty all at the same time, but he would have to bear the assault on his senses. Raz swallowed and held his tongue, opened up the container, brought the salts to his nose, took a deep whiff... and nothing happened. Instead, a high-pitched voice answered his wide eyes, pounding heart, and shaking legs.

“Leaving so soon?”

The voice let out a wheezy chuckle. Raz froze in place. He recognized this voice, just like he recognized the others; this time though, he wished he didn’t.

#  **_Part 2_ **

Something small deep within Raz’s head crumbled apart in silence. Without thinking, Raz’s body shimmered away as he turned invisible. He tried his best to steady his breathing, and he pressed himself against the wall; his legs might give out beneath him at any moment. The stray thoughts that had been lingering in the back of his head from before surged back to the forefront like the roiling waves of an ocean beneath a storm. They began to twirl his mind into a whirlwind with what was lurking behind the wall he was leaning against. Each image that flashed in his mind made his skin crawl even more. Raz let out a sharp yell as he steeled his shaking body, not caring that the noise would betray his invisibility. He wouldn’t - he _couldn’t_ \- wait for the goosebumps, the crawling to subside. The impossibility of death in the mental plane made room for different fates, fates that he refused to consider.

From the doorway where the steel door once stood, red and green light flooded into the hallway. Raz tore himself away from his hiding spot, and began to run again. This time though, his eyes were not locked forward on the path straight ahead. Instead, they were darting about, looking for a place to take cover. Raz would still not allow himself to turn his head around and look behind him.

He came to a fork in the hallway, with only a few seconds to make his choice. Raz bolted to his right, and opened up the third door he came across. He scrambled inside the room, and closed the door behind him in a half-slam, half “nobody is in here”. A quiet _click_ rang out as the lock in the door set into place. The room before him was the size of a walk-in closet; between the countertop, an examination chair, and himself, only a few more people could fit inside. Near the ceiling, above the countertop, there was an air duct vent. One time when he was six years old, Raz’s father had to fish his older brother out of an air duct when he got stuck inside after going inside for some sort of challenge. While his brother had gotten too big to be crawling around in air ducts, Raz had wondered if he might have been able to fit inside. Now, while he would get that answer to that lingering question, he didn’t have time to mull upon it. With a boost from levitation, Raz hopped up onto the counter. put two fingers from his right hand against his temples, and focused. The top left screw began to glow yellow and started to turn. It was in there tight, but it spun faster as it became looser and loose from its place. Eventually, it came free and dropped to the countertop with a rattling, tiny _tink-tink_. The other two screws came out in the same manner.

A knock came from the door. Instead of the heavy pounding that Raz was expecting, the knocks were sharp and quick, as if the person behind it was waiting to be let in by an old friend. Raz held his breath, and focused his attention on getting the final screw out. Another set of knocks came. This time, they drummed on the door in a rapid, erratic rhythm rolling like thunder. The knocking was too fast for two hands to perform, too fast for four, but absolutely perfect for eight. The loose screw fell on the countertop with another _tink-tink_ , and the vent cover fell in turn with a crashing bang. A sinking pit formed in the bottom of Raz’s stomach.

“Hell-oooh?”

_Shit._

Unsure if responding would land him in deeper water than he already was, Raz hoisted himself as fast as he could towards the inside of the duct. The voice laughed at his lost nerve. The door began to rattle and shake on its hinges, and a dark shadow appeared through the glass. 

“You can’t run away from your cavities.”

Raz grabbed at the ridges inside, and began to pull himself into the air duct. He had to wriggle and twist like a snake in order to fit inside. Cold metal pressed against his body on all sides. His shuffling kicked up a fine layer of dust that had gathered on the bottom of the duct, causing him to sneeze. 

A roaring bang rang out behind Raz as the lock on the door behind him gave out, and it swung open and crashed against the wall. Before he could fit his feet inside the duct and crawl away, three cold metal claws wrapped around his foot. The claws ripped through his shoe into his skin. Pain tore through his body from his foot, and blood began to soak into his sock. Raz screamed at the top of his lungs. He began to thrash his foot about, kicking at his attacker. The claws digged further into his flesh, and pulled, beginning to drag Raz out of the duct. Then, there was a heavy _smack_ as Raz’s foot and shoe slammed point blank into his attacker’s face. His assailant let out a high-pitched screech, and the claws retreated. Raz scuttled away as fast as he could into the claustrophobic tunnels. Scratches and clattering rang out around him as arms reached into the duct in a vain attempt to catch him again. Soon, they stopped, and all Raz could hear was the low rumble of fans from deep within the maze. He couldn’t see an inch in front of his face, but the previously-- now provided brief sanctuary from the horrors outside. And perhaps, a bit of time to call for help. _Pause. Focus._ Raz blocked out the world around him, and shifted his attention towards reaching out to the real world. For a brief moment, for forever, he heard nothing. Then, his call was answered.

“Razputin, are you hurt?”

A cool wave of relief washed over Raz from Sasha’s voice.

“My foot’s messed up.” He grit his teeth together, feeling the pustulating pounding from the wound.

* * *

“You are in what is known as a ---. It is a mental containment area for strong fears and anxieties, so they can be visited in safety.”

“Like a zoo?”

“I suppose.”

“Well… 


	8. 2020-09-22 - psychonauts - spooky faced cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dogen loves animals. Even the scary looking ones.
> 
> Discord drabble, based upon _Junji Ito's Cat Diary_ and in particular, Yon.

Sometimes in the morning at Whispering Rock, there is nothing to hear but leaves rustling in the wind and the occasional fwip of a page being turned. When Coach Oleander didn't bellow at the crack of dawn for his class, this was a chance for the campers to nestle in bed for a few more hours. The glow of early morning light pouring in through the window of the cabin wouldn't so much as stir a sleeping soul.

Except for the few souls that were awake.

Needing to catch up on the latest issues of True Psychic Tales - The Curse of the Undead Brain, The Assassin of London, Doctor What And The Peculiar Box-Shaped Object - Raz and Lili were reading at the lodge. They were kept warm with blankets and hot chocolate. No words were passed between them, but they didn't need to talk. Sasha was nearby as well, doing some studying and having a morning smoke.

What broke the silence was not Raz or Lili, but rather, a quiet chorus of giggles as someone approached. Raz lifted his head from his book. Lili blinked, but only turned another page. Hurrying up to the lodge on his little legs was Dogen, with something big and white in his arms.

"Dogen, where did you find that cat?" Sasha closed his book, and raised an eyebrow.  
"It found me. I felt something against my face, it was him!"  
"Hm."  
'Isn't the nearest town several miles away?', Raz thought to himself.  
"Isn't he cute??"  
"Yes."

Raz gave a weak wave to Dogen, and smiled a bit. Dogen gave a bigger smile, and approached the pair.

"Look, Raz!! Isn't he cute?"

Raz took one look at the cat's face. The cat had large wide eyes which didn't stare at Raz. Rather, the cat's eyes stared through him. It's expression was blank. An icy shiver pirced through Raz's blanket and hot chocolate.

"It's... uh, cute."

Lili looked up from her book. A quiet 'aww' escaped her lips. Not only did it have a spooky face, but it's fur looked like a skull! When Raz turned to see the look on her face, she blushed and buried her nose back into her book.


	9. 2020-11-21 - psychonauts - mood rings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **cw: body horror, violence**
> 
> mood rings stemmed from a conversation between me and sincerelymendacious about junji ito and making fics based off his work. this conversation also led to the tale of the sad oyster girl.
> 
> mood rings would have been a body horror, zombie apocalypse esc tale, with people that put on the mood rings being "possessed" by them as the rings grows into their skin. the possessed becoming obsessed with the ring, to the point of being violent, attacking others, and negligent of themselves. they eventually become half human, half crystal zombies.

In the cafeteria at headquarters, Raz and Lili were sitting at the far end of a mostly empty table. Outside, the loud pitter-patter of rain drummed against the window in heavy sheets. Lunch today was chicken stew, with a medley of vegetables that weren't given enough time to thaw out and didn't quite fit together.

To avoid staring down at their bowls or out the window, the pair instead took to people-watching. Everyone was inside today and packed in the cafeteria if only to soak up the heat.

When he was in the circus, after performances were over, Raz would watch people as waves of people receded. He gained an eye for picking up patterns in the crowd. However, he hadn't seen the pattern that he found among the people in the cafeteria before.

“Lili?” Raz asked.

“What's up?" she replied.

“Why is everyone wearing those rings?”

On the fingers of agents and staff alike were identical rings. They were silver, dazzling, and shining as hands and fingers turned and moved. Set in them were large, spherical stones the size of pearls. Each one was a different color, and slowly pulsed through the spectrum. Not a single smudge, fingerprint, or speck of dust could be found on any band or stone.

“Why do you ask?”

“I'm just, y'know, not really…”

“Fashionable?”

“Yeah. Fashionable." Raz chuckled.

A quiet hm came out of Lili. “I don't know why everyone is wearing them. But they're all the rage around here, I guess.”

“Are you going to get one?”

“No. Dad wants to get me one, though. He has one himself.”

“Why not get one?”

Lili’s eyes flickered down to her bowl. She frowned and remained silent. Raz had spent enough time with her to read her thoughts without telepathy, but he held his tongue as well.

* * *

_Internal Incident Memo #051904_   
_At approximately 8:20 AM, Agent Birkov attempted to pass through a metal detector checkpoint to a secure area while wearing a metal ring. Upon request by internal security staff to remove the ring, Birkov began to argue with security staff and attacked checkpoint equipment. Two agents in the area intercepted and restrained Birkov. Intercepting agents were not able to remove Birkov’s ring. Birkov was subsequently transferred to the medical ward for removal of the ring._

* * *

“Agent Nein, code purple, medical ward, room 221. Agent Nein, code purple, medical ward, room 221.”

Raz and Sasha hurried down the hall. They passed doctors and nurses with armfuls of documents and clipboards, pushing carts, going every which way. A temptation to slide his goggles down nagged Raz from the back of his mind. The bright white lights, zero windows, and sparkling clean walls and floors burned into his retinas. The last few times he had been here, it was only for a short period of time. He hoped it would be the same rodeo again.

“What’s code purple again?” Raz asked. He was still memorizing the various color codes used around headquarters and didn’t have them nailed down yet.

“Anomalous phenomena. I studied it as a field researcher before transferring to the espionage division.”

Raz didn’t know what the first two words meant, but he could guess. “So the medical staff doesn’t know what’s happening?”

Sasha shrugged. “More or less.”

Sasha was the first to enter the room. Strapped to a bed was an agent in his thirties. His hair was unkempt and his eyes were wide. Thrashing in place and struggling against the restraints, he screamed at the nurses and staff surrounding the bed.

“Let me out of here, you ridiculous assholes! Nothing’s wrong with me!”

Upon hearing the door opening, one of the nurses turned to face Sasha. “Ah, Agent Nein? And this is your assistant?”

Raz scoffed at the last word she said. “Apprentice.”

“Yes,” Sasha replied to the nurse. He approached the bed and the nurse. She was holding something in her hands. “What seems to be the issue?”

The nurse turned the paper in her hands, revealing an X-ray. She handed it to Sasha. “The ring’s metal has fused to the bone in his finger.”

Raz stood up on his tiptoes to look at the X-ray. The image was of the man’s right hand. Between the inner edge of the ring and the bone of his ring finger, there were thick tendrils. The tendrils were woven together from a mix of both bone and metal. Raz even saw the beginnings of new tendrils and weaves jutting out from the ring.

“Have you tried removing it?”

The nurse sighed. “Removal would require amputation.”

“Don’t listen to her!” The man began to shout over the nurse. His voice screeched and ground against the walls. Sasha looked over with a raised eyebrow. Raz’s hands shot under his pilot cap and cupped over his ears.

“There’s nothing wrong with me!" He raised his voice upon seeing Raz cover his ears. "This ring is a part of me, you hear?!”


	10. 2020-12-23 - psychonauts - nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off some chatter in Discord about Raz having nightmares based off his adventures.

The first thing Raz felt was leather straps digging and cutting into the skin of his wrists and ankles.

Raz's eyes flew open, and he looked down. He was strapped into that same dentist chair as before. A shiver shot down his spine, and he swallowed down a gasp. Why was he back here? His eyes darted around, trying to find his captor.

The room around him was dark, but he could make out some features. Spiked thorns snaked across the floor and crawled up the walls. They shuddered up and down as if they were breathing. The window that once gazed into the open ocean now stared into a sea of trees.

Through a broken panel, cold night air drifted through the room. A scent of seawater floated on a slight breeze. Although the wind was gentle, it pierced through Raz's jacket.

"Lili?" Raz called out. His voice echoed against the walls, ringing in his ears.

"Sasha? Milla? Coach? Anyone?"

Only a quiet drone of insects and the buzz of overhead lights answered his cries. Raz could feel his heart beating in his ears, and his limbs shaking against his restraints.

_Calm down._

_I can get out of here._

_It's just a bad dream._

Raz squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to steady his breathing. Instead of focusing on the straps that held him, he instead turned his mind to positive thoughts. He placed them beneath himself, swirling them together into a levitation ball. This wasn't just a bad dream; this was his bad dream. It was his world, and it would play by his rules.

But nothing happened.

The orange ball that would lift Raz into the air, the sensation of his arms and legs freely floating - none of it came. He stirred his thoughts faster, gathering more energy. But soon, his temples began to pound. 

Opening his eyes, Raz found himself in the exact same place as before - trapped in the chair. He shrunk into himself as he blinked away silent tears. He felt like a small, cornered animal with its tail in between its legs. 

Then, a wordless voice began to babble away, its gibberish chatter filling the air. It came at Raz from all directions. Starting as a quiet whisper, the voice steadily became louder. He could make out a screeching tone that bounced with a spring in its step.

Raz gulped, and his breath became ragged. He didn't need to make out words to know who the voice belonged to. Against his better judgment, he began to squirm against his restraints.


End file.
